Retaining and Developing High Potential Talent. Promising Practices in Onboarding, Employee Mentoring & Succession Planning

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Retaining

and

Developing

High

Potential

Talent

Promising Practices in Onboarding, Employee Mentoring

& Succession Planning

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TABLE

OF

CONTENTS

Executive Summary 3

Diversity and Inclusion 4

Building a Talent Management Plan with a Diversity & Inclusion Focus: Five Key Steps 5

Mentoring

What is mentoring? How does it contribute to diversity and inclusion? 8

Best practices 8

Benefits 9

Case Study 10‐12

Key Recommendations 13

Onboarding

What is onboarding? How does it contribute to diversity and inclusion? 14

Best practices 14

Benefits 14

Case Study 15‐16

Succession Planning

What is succession planning? How does it contribute to diversity and inclusion? 17

Best practices 17‐18

Benefits 18

Case Study 19‐20

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3

E

XECUTIVE

S

UMMARY

For organizations in the 21st century

United States, diversity is a reality, a

given, but effective engagement with

diversity – often called Diversity and

Inclusion – is an asset and a competi‐

tive advantage. Despite the economic

downturn, organizations still find

themselves in a war for top talent –

and successful organizations do not

stop with just attracting and hiring

efforts, but utilize their resources to

retain employees by providing a sup‐

portive environment. To maximize

organizational success, employers

don’t just work to retain employees

from diverse backgrounds; they also

endeavor to leverage the diverse

workforce to benefit from what these

employees bring in terms of perspec‐

tives, including knowledge of diverse

markets.

Employers – nonprofit, for profit and

public – all stand to benefit from ad‐

vancing diversity and inclusion as a

strategy to remain competitive. Diver‐

sity brings a wealth of knowledge,

skills and competencies which results

in higher productivity and innovation.

While there are numerous benefits of

practicing diversity and inclusion, at

the top of the list are increased mo‐

rale among the workforce, and loyalty

to the organization.

Lessons learned from research and

practice in this area teach us that Di‐

versity and Inclusion efforts will only

show tangible results if this work is

ingrained in the fabric of the organiza‐

tional culture – a separate Diversity &

Inclusion “initiative” is counterproduc‐

tive.

While each organization’s culture is

unique, setting your own, equally

unique, goal for an inclusive culture –

what that looks like and how you will

measure progress – is an imperative for

real progress.

For national nonprofit human services

employers, recent (2011) research, dis‐

tilled from the panoply of diversity &

inclusion practices in which to invest,

suggests three that would offer the

most value at the lowest cost. This tool‐

kit is built on those recommendations,

and offers readers best practices infor‐

mation and mini‐cases from within our

membership on these 3 areas of talent

management and development work:

Onboarding; Employee Mentoring; and

Succession Planning.

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“Diversity is any dimension that can be used to differentiate groups and people from one another. Inclusion is a state of

being valued, respected, and supported. It is based on an organizational culture, management practices, and

interpersonal relationships that support the full utilization of a diverse work force at all levels and in all functions of an

organization.”(Giovannini, 2012)

In 2012, the need to build more di‐

verse and inclusive organizations in

the nonprofit human services sector

is clear and compelling – our nation

is increasingly diverse and grows

more diverse every day, and that

means our organizations need to

mirror that diversity in terms of

staff, board leadership, supporters

and the constituents we serve and

partner with to make positive

change. Beyond these imperatives,

there is a mountain of literature

showing forcefully and with evi‐

dence that a diverse and inclusive

workplace yields an organization

that is more creative, more respon‐

sive, more agile and ultimately more

innovative.

All that being said, the questions at

hand are: how do we move from

commitment to action and build the

diverse and inclusive organization of

the 21st century and – most impor‐

tantly at this juncture – where

should we start?

To understand the current state of

Diversity & Inclusion efforts within

our member organizations at the

national level, in 2011 the National

Human Services Assembly under‐

took a study, in conjunction with the

NYU Wagner School of Public Ser‐

vice, to establish a baseline of infor‐

mation, findings and recommenda‐

tions for moving forward. The re‐

search – conducted by a capstone

team of graduate students with fac‐

ulty supervision – focused on a rela‐

tively narrow area of practice as a

starting point – the efforts of NHSA

members to increase the racial and

ethnic diversity of senior manage‐

ment at their national headquarters.

The results of this Capstone re‐

search project, shared with mem‐

bers in 2011, provided recommen‐

dations for NHSA and our members

as to specific practice areas that

would be most fruitful for moving

our Diversity & Inclusion work for‐

ward in the arena of Talent Manage‐

ment. The Capstone team’s litera‐

ture review and interviews with key

leaders outside as well as inside our

sector pointed up three areas of

practice where NHSA members

were not as far along in their invest‐

ments as they might be, but that are

clearly high leverage points for in‐

creasing racial and ethnic diversity

in senior management – and are

also relatively low cost.

These three areas of practice – on‐

boarding, employee mentoring pro‐

grams and succession planning – are

all areas where strong programs

with an intentional Diversity & Inclu‐

sion lens can yield real results for

our members as employers.

Upon considering the Capstone re‐

search findings, NHSA and its mem‐

bers, engaged through our HR and

Diversity & Inclusion Councils,

agreed that the next step in their

collaborative work would be to be

involved in the creation of a

toolkit on these three practice ar‐

eas, featuring NHSA members who

have already begun investment in

these sorts of programs. NHSA en‐

gaged a graduate student intern to

work on this product, and Council

members participated in phone in‐

terviews and completion of ques‐

tionnaires to help inform this prod‐

uct. NHSA’s intern Elma Jeyasekar

also conducted extensive literature

reviews inside and outside our sec‐

tor, and utilized the NYU Capstone

findings report as a guide and

launching pad for this toolkit.

The materials that follow offer you a

quick and accessible overview of key

elements for building a successful

Diversity & Inclusion approach to

your organization’s talent manage‐

ment, followed by a closer look at

how to build effective Onboarding,

Mentoring and Succession Planning

programs.

Source:

Giovannini M. What Gets Measured Gets Done. Journal For Quality & Participation [serial online]. Winter2004 2004; 27(4):21‐27. Available from: Academic Search Premier, Ips‐

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To get started on either retooling or

building a talent management ap‐

proach that truly weaves diversity

and inclusion into everything you

do, researchers and expert practitio‐

ners suggest there are five key steps

or building blocks. We offer key tac‐

tics and points to remember as you

take each step – or as a checklist for

double checking that the fundamen‐

tal steps you’ve already taken incor‐

porate lessons learned from your

colleagues and the larger field. Step 1: Planning

Warning – do not skip step 1! While

it is tempting to start with action in

a specific area, it is nearly impossi‐

ble to demonstrate success – espe‐

cially in an area that is so important

and also remains relatively new and

somewhat sensitive in terms of or‐

ganizational commitment, invest‐

ment and strategic initiatives – with‐

out beginning with the end in mind.

While “low hanging fruit” is some‐

times an effective way to get organ‐

izational change work started, in the

case of Diversity & Inclusion efforts,

it is wiser to invest in answering the

following questions and ensuring

that the following critical players

and success factors are attended to

before you launch any significant

programmatic work.

Define Diversity – it is essential for

your organization to define what

sort of diversity your organization

needs – Racial and Ethnic diversity? Age? Gender? Sexual orientation?

Disability? Other dimensions?

Identify Options – what kinds of

practices might you consider imple‐

menting, and what are the pros and

cons of each? Which practices or

efforts are most appropriate for

your organization?

Identify Stakeholders – knowing

your stakeholders helps you build a

business case to engage them. Align Goals – connect and tailor

diversity goals and initiatives to

overall organizational strategy mis‐

sion, vision and goals.

Focus on Business Results – identify

the rationale behind each diversity

initiative. Why do you invest in this

initiative? Does it benefit the organi‐

zation, and if so, how?

Align Initiatives and Policies – the

last thing you want is to have an

initiative that is not in sync with

organizational policies. Make sure

that all organizational policies sup‐

port the diversity mission.

Assess Current Position – know

where you stand in diversity and

inclusion efforts by gathering data

and assessing the information gath‐

ered. Some of the questions you can

ask yourself are: What do we plan to

achieve? What have we achieved?

What are some of the gaps which

need to be addressed?

Know Your Employees – learn how

employees in your organization

value diversity and inclusion, and

understand the existing diversified

workforce through surveys or face‐

to‐face meetings.

Update Employees – any initiative

requires the involvement of employ‐

ees to be successful. Create and

utilize an effective communication

plan to keep employees updated

with the progress of any initiative

undertaken. Step 2: Set the tone

As you move from the planning

stage into implementation, it is es‐

sential to create an environment

which supports and aligns with your

overall diversity plan. Creating an

inclusive environment goes beyond

providing a welcoming environment;

the organization needs to value and

utilize differences that diverse

groups offer. While knowing and

valuing differences is the first step,

making efficient use of these differ‐

ences is actually the crux of the mat‐

ter. Below are some key steps for

setting a tone of inclusiveness. Create an Inclusive Climate – do

you support your diversity mission

by creating a climate of understand‐

ing, respect and acceptance for all? Value and Utilize Differences – how

differences are utilized, and the ex‐

tent to which they are utilized to

grow as an organization, contributes

to demonstrating the organization’s

commitment to diversity goals.

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DiversityInc. (2012) What Makes Kaiser Permanente Score With Employees, Customers?. Retrieved from http://diversityinc.com/diversity‐management/what‐makes‐kaiser‐

permanente‐no‐1‐for‐diversity/

Gregg, B.(2012). White employee wins racial discrimination lawsuit. DiversityInc, Winter 2012,114‐116.

Mor‐Barak, M. E. (2005). Managing diversity: Toward a globally inclusive workplace. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage Publications

Plum Consulting, (2011). Developing Executive Diversity in Human Service Organizations NYU Wagner Capstone Final Report Spring 2011. Paper presented at the Talent Strategy

2.0,New York .

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Encourage Ownership and Commit‐ ment – encourage ownership

among stakeholders, and ensure

that senior management is commit‐

ted to and is supportive of the diver‐

sity mission.

Align Policies with Mission – ensure

that the organizational policies and

practices promote non‐

discrimination. There should be no

biased treatment for any particular

group of employees.

Address Needs – identify the needs

of underrepresented groups and

begin to address them.

Provide Developmental Opportuni‐

ties – plan your training and devel‐

opment programs to support and

help meet the diversity and inclu‐

sion goals.

Support Community Outreach and

Involvement – encourage employee

volunteerism by collaborating with

and contributing to your commu‐

nity.

Build a Representative Workforce –

"Action speaks louder than words” –

demonstrate your commitment to

diversity by attracting and building a

representative workforce.

Involve Employees – ensure that

employees are actively involved in

these initiatives.

Step 3: Communicate

It’s human nature to want to be

informed and included. Yet, many

organizations who know the impor‐

tance of communication fail to com‐

municate with employees. As you

review the action plan below, you

may be surprised how small efforts

like these can significantly contrib‐

ute to meeting your goals. Let Your Core Values Speak – list

diversity and inclusion in the core

values of the organization to show

their central importance.

Craft Values and Other Position

Statements Well – concise and clear

communication helps minimize or

eliminate unnecessary apprehen‐

sions and rumors, and builds inter‐

nal alliances.

Highlight Goals and Progress –

regularly emphasize the goals and

progress of such initiatives through

your communication efforts. Initiate Intentional Dialogue – grab

every opportunity to discuss inclu‐

siveness and reflect on it.

Make Public Statements or Pledges

– by going public you not only build

your reputation, but a sense of ac‐

countability as well.

Embed Your Diversity Message Eve‐

rywhere – the use of images of di‐

verse employees and information

about diversity in internal newslet‐

ters, websites, bulletins and other

communicational tools can go a long

way.

Your organizational website and

intranet are a good place to get started. Elements to feature in‐

clude:

 Clear messages and commit‐

ment from top management  Goals and progress

 Rewards and organizational

successes associated with diver‐

sity and inclusion

 Publicly shared annual diversity

report

 Video testimonials and success

stories

 A page dedicated to Employee

Resource groups

 Easy access and visibility to in‐

formation on diversity practices

–(Jackson, 2012)

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DiversityInc. (2012) What Makes Kaiser Permanente Score With Employees, Customers?. Retrieved from http://diversityinc.com/diversity‐management/what‐makes‐kaiser‐

permanente‐no‐1‐for‐diversity/

Gregg, B.(2012). White employee wins racial discrimination lawsuit. DiversityInc, Winter 2012,114‐116.

Jackson, C.C. (2012). Which companies have the best diversity websites? DiversityInc, Winter 2012,112.

Mor‐Barak, M. E. (2005). Managing diversity: Toward a globally inclusive workplace. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage Publications

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Step 4: Ensure accountability

Accountability is often equated with

“showing numbers.” Although, it is

important to show numbers, ac‐

countability goes beyond that.

When accountability starts at the

top and is employed at every level,

the resulting commitment from em‐

ployees proves to be a critical suc‐

cess factor which contributes greatly

to meeting diversity goals. How do

we ensure this sort of commitment?

Let’s take a look.

Create an Accountability System –

starting from top‐level management

to lower‐level management, clearly

specify each person’s responsibility.

Make Accountability Methods Easy

to Use – work on a system that does

not require major unnecessary

changes in already existing systems

(e.g. performance reviews, reports

on business results).

Create Employee Resource Groups

– these groups can lift up diversity

throughout the organization and can

help in making a business case for

diversity.

Seek Expertise – Internal or Exter‐ nal – do not hesitate to seek exter‐

nal support and advice.

Report Progress – create monthly,

quarterly and annual reports and

monitor the progress of the initia‐

tives taken. Share these reports all

the way up to the top management

and the board of directors. Step 5: Evaluate

Evaluation helps legitimize the value

of implementing any practice or

process. It shows the importance

that the organization places on the

practice, and provides validation for

the time, effort and other resources

that are invested. Evaluation serves

as a motivation for employees to

put in their best. To quote manage‐

ment guru Peter Drucker, “What

gets Measured Gets Done.” Below is

a “to do list” for evaluating your

diversity efforts.

Measure Diversity Outcomes –

measure demographics in functional

areas related to building a diverse

workforce to identify areas of im‐

provement; track successes and

failures; and make necessary im‐

provements.

Support with Evidence – use per‐

formance measurement and metrics

to convey the business case for di‐

versity.

Link Performance Reviews – con‐

nect employee’s contribution in

these initiatives to performance

reviews and variable components of

compensation.

Conduct Benchmarking – evaluate

organizational performance by

benchmarking using labor force sta‐

tistics, segmenting, conducting cli‐

mate or cultural assessments. This

will enable you to compare your

performance to the market stan‐

dard.

BUILDING A TALENT MANAGEMENT PLAN WITH A DIVERSITY & INCLUSION FOCUS: FIVE KEY STEPS

Haile, E. (2012). A Win‐Win: Companies Thrive; Communities Get a Boost with Supplier Diversity. DiversityInc, Winter 2012,106.

2.0,New York .

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M

ENTORING

“Mentoring is a long‐term relationship in which a more senior person offers general career guidance to a junior person.

Coaching is when an expert or senior person is asked to help a person with one specific challenge. Sponsorship is when

a senior person serves as a political advocate for the advancement of a junior person.”(Frankel, 2012)

With today’s workforce evolving to

be more diverse, top organizations

are adapting processes and prac‐

tices which helps them to attract,

hire, retain and develop a diversified

workforce. Mentoring is one such

practice which tops the list in terms

of its impact. Mentoring promotes

diversity by providing equal oppor‐

tunity for every employee to grow

professionally and by eliminating

barriers to equity in opportunities

for development. Mentoring helps

identify high potential employees

and ensures that they are provided

with the right resources to progress

professionally. We used a blend of

research on theories and practices

to come up with this list of best

practices on mentoring for your con‐

sideration.

BEST PRACTICES TO BUILD AN EFFECTIVE

MENTORING PROGRAM

Meet Expectations – mentoring

programs are designed to meet em‐

ployee needs. What do employees

need? What programs are you offer‐

ing them? Are there gaps in meeting

their expectations? How do you plan

to address the gap?

Link Performance Plan – connect

your mentoring program to per‐

formance plans to encourage active

participation.

Identify Desired Approach to

Matching – what combination of

mentors and mentee works best for

you – same dimension or different

dimension; identify whichever

proves beneficial for your organiza‐

tion.

Carefully Match Mentor and Men‐

tee – a good match‐up of mentor

and mentee is highly recommended

as it is important for the mentor and

mentee to feel connected.

Provide Formal Guidance – a guide‐

book for mentors and mentees can

serve as a reference, helping them

to effectively facilitate their mentor‐

ing sessions.

Mentor Training – train the mentors

on diversity practices of the organi‐

zation.

Utilize Internal and External Re‐ sources – make efficient use of both

internal and external mentors to

widen the knowledge spectrum

made available.

Practice Peer‐to‐Peer Mentoring –

peer‐to‐peer mentoring is when

employees of the same job‐level

mentor each other. Since mentees

are mentored by their peer, they

have no inhibitions as opposed to

when a senior‐level manager men‐

tors his/her subordinate. This type

of mentoring helps participants to

be transparent around their vulner‐

abilities.

Encourage Reciprocal Mentoring –

in reciprocal mentoring, mentor and

mentee (senior mentoring junior

and vice versa) engage in a reverse/ mutual mentoring arrangement –

resulting in both learning in the

process and understanding the or‐

ganization better through each

other’s lens.

Train Mentors across “Silos” – when

mentees from one part of the or‐

ganization are mentored by leaders

of another group both parties gain

cross‐functional knowledge.

Involve Top Management – make

senior management a part of the

mentoring program and hold them

accountable.

Encourage Employee Participation

– encourage employees to be a part

of your mentoring program; top

management support can improve

active participation of employees in

the program.

Evaluate Participation and Involve‐

ment – conduct employee surveys

to evaluate the impact and value of

employee involvement in the pro‐

gram.

Embed in Other Programs – incul‐

cate mentoring in other, already

existing leadership development

programs and opportunities.

Frankel, B.(2012). Increasing diversity in talent development. DiversityInc, Winter 2012,74‐75.

Frankel, B. (2012). How mentoring improves retention, engagement and promotions. DiversityInc, Winter 2012, 79.

SHRM. (N.D). Creating a Strategic Diversity Management Plan: Onboarding. Retrieved from

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BENEFITS

 Improves employee engagement and motivation  Nurtures professional development

 Increases internal promotion  Promotes compensation growth

 Exposes senior management to talent available in the organization

 Gives an opportunity for employees to connect with the senior management at a different level  Develops a sense of belonging and encourages greater ownership of organizational culture  Facilitates transfer of knowledge

 Helps mentors and mentees understand the organization from a different perspective  Improves productivity

 Decreases turnover rate. Acts as a retention strategy  Promotes innovation and develops talent

 Accelerates employees’ critical skills  Reduces recruitment costs

 Develops new leaders

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ENTORING

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Frankel, B.(2012). How mentoring improves retention, engagement and promotions. DiversityInc, Winter 2012,78‐87.

2.0,New York .

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M

ENTORING

CASE STUDY: Boy Scouts of America

– Scouting Ambassador Program

The Scouting Ambassador Program

is Boy Scouts of America’s employee

mentoring program. Shortly after an

employee is hired, he or she is as‐

signed an ambassador who helps

the new hire to transition into the

organization. The Scouting Ambas‐

sador Program is more than just an

initiative; it is linked with the organi‐

zation’s strategic plan. The program

was started with a focus on building

a diverse workforce; over the course

of time, it has expanded beyond

diversity and inclusion. The Chief

Financial Officer is the sponsor of

this program and holds the primary

responsibility.

This program is open to all the em‐

ployees of the organization. To be

eligible to serve as a mentor or am‐

bassador, an employee must be in

good standing in terms of position,

job responsibilities, performance,

personality, passion for the organi‐

zation and understanding the organ‐

izational culture. The selected am‐

bassadors are reviewed and evalu‐

ated by a team /taskforce and

trained for the program. Ambassa‐

dors are trained on how to

“develop, nurture and retain” men‐

tees by developing a strong mentor‐

ing relationship. Although Boy

Scouts of America does not have

any set targets regarding the diver‐

sity of program participants, they

ensure that the pool of participants

is diverse in nature. Mentor – men‐

tee matching is done based on the

developmental need of the new

hires – what skills and knowledge

they have and need to develop,

matched with ambassadors who

have the competencies to develop

these mentees in those areas. If a

mentee prefers a cultural match –

Boy Scouts of America ensures they

are matched culturally as well. Am‐

bassadors provide mentees with

resources and help them make con‐

nections which will help them grow

professionally.

Ambassadors are encouraged to

take their mentees for lunches and

mentees in turn are encouraged to

spend time with their mentors to

strengthen their mentor – mentee

relationship and build a healthy and

productive collaboration. Boy Scouts

of America depends mainly on inter‐

nal resources for this program; they

employ external resources on an as‐

needed basis.

After 60 days of onboarding, staff

conduct an evaluation to assess the

effectiveness of the program, in‐

cluding the Ambassador’s contribu‐

tion, mentee participation, mentor‐

mentee match, learning and devel‐

opment, and the process. Following

this initial evaluation, Boy Scouts of

Altemus, C.C. Director, Employment and Diversity Office, Boy Scouts of America. Interviewed on May 1, 2012.

America conducts a quarterly

evaluation as well. One of the note‐

worthy aspects of the program is

the annual celebration conducted to

recognize and reward the contribu‐

tions of ambassadors. This not only

serves as a motivating factor for the

participants but encourages other

employees to learn more about the

program and potentially be a part of

the program in the future.

Successes:

Based on the evaluation which is

conducted quarterly to assess the

program, Boy Scouts of America’s

mentoring program has proved to

be very successful. The two key

benefits of this program are: em‐

ployee engagement and retention.

Since this program concentrates on

addressing the developmental

needs of the employees from their

first day, they are able to transition

into organizational culture with

greater ease and continuously ad‐

dress areas that need improvement

to contribute to both their growth

and that of the organization. This

helps employees gain a sense of

belonging, commitment and satis‐

faction in working for the organiza‐

tion. The evaluation shows that the

employees are more engaged after

participating in the program than

they were before the implementa‐

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M

ENTORING

Research shows that through this

mentoring program, both mentor

and mentee have an extensive ex‐

change of knowledge about each

other, their responsibilities and con‐

cerns surrounding that, and organ‐

izational goals. The demographics of

this program show the participants

of the program are extremely di‐

verse, and Boy Scouts of America

staff believe this diversity is the

backbone for the success of this

program. Most importantly, this

program has helped the organiza‐

tion to be seen as an employer who

welcomes diversity of talent.

Challenges and Lessons Learned:

One of the key lessons learned is

that the mentoring program, when

tied to the performance goals of the

organization, serves as an important

motivating factor for the partici‐

pants, as it validates the worth of

the efforts that they put in. Cur‐

rently the mentoring program is not

linked to individual performance

plans. But in the future, as the pro‐

gram evolves further, Boy Scouts of

America plans to link the mentoring

program to its performance goals.

Future Plans:

Like any process which needs to be

improved continuously, BCS plans to

fine tune the existing mentoring

program to meet the needs of their

evolving workforce.

CASE STUDY: American Cancer Soci‐

ety – National Mentoring Program

American Cancer Society’s national

mentoring program was started in

February 2010 involving around 50‐

100 participants in the first two

years. Although it is a formal pro‐

gram sponsored by the national

home office, ACS aims at setting an

informal tone to the program, by

describing it as a developmental

opportunity offered to every em‐

ployee of the organization, to en‐

courage employee involvement. The

focus of the program is to develop

employees’ skills in some of the core

competencies identified as impor‐

tant organization‐wide. Clearly,

then, mentorship programs are not

targeted on any specific group. The

participant demographics are di‐

verse – across gender, ethnicity,

language, and race. The mentoring

program has been well received by

the employees of ACS; many VPs

and senior‐level management are

actively involved in this program. At

present, ACS runs this program

solely using internal resources.

The process starts with senior lead‐

ership approving the cohort of men‐

tors and mentees. Followed by ap‐

proval from leadership, an orienta‐

tion session is conducted through

webinar for all participants. The

orientation covers topics related to

goals, objectives, purpose and

guidelines of the program. After

attending the orientation, each par‐

ticipant completes an application

through an external web‐based plat‐

form, MentorScout, and creates a

profile which includes details such

as: demographic information, job

title, job‐level, tenure of service,

primary areas of expertise, primary

areas of development, desired role (mentor, mentee or both) etc.

Thereafter, participants have access

to a variety of useful mentoring‐

related resources.

A member of the ACS Talent Devel‐

opment team reviews all the pro‐

files; based on the self‐reported

need and level of expertise, mentors

and mentees are matched. Some of

the other factors which are consid‐

ered for the matching process in‐

clude: job level, areas of interest

and other specific requests. Men‐

tees are usually matched with men‐

tors whose positions are up to two

job levels higher. Peer‐to‐peer men‐

toring and reciprocal mentoring are

offered when there is a potential of

achieving the desired focused learn‐

ing through that particular type of

pairing.

Altemus, C.C. Director, Employment and Diversity Office, Boy Scouts of America. Interviewed on May 1, 2012.

American Cancer Society. (2012). ACS National Mentor Program: overview, process and demographics. Atlanta, GA

Guzman, V. Senior Director‐Diversity and Inclusion,. Interviewed on May 4, 2012.

(12)

M

ENTORING

A set of guidelines are provided for

the participants to follow; these

guidelines also set certain expecta‐

tions. Mentors and mentees review

a mentorship agreement which out‐

lines preferred methods of commu‐

nication, expectations, goals, confi‐

dentiality, and other relevant terms

and conditions. In order to guide the

mentors, ACS offers them an infor‐

mation session detailing the struc‐

ture, support and skill development

needed to mentor. Participants are

offered training programs such as

“Becoming the CEO of your develop‐

ment” to provide an opportunity to

develop skills that are required to

achieve higher performance. Special

efforts are made to promote this

program – for example, Regional

Learning Consultants promote this

program through discussions with

key leaders across geographical divi‐

sions, by providing information

sheets to interested stakeholders (e.g. top management, division

heads, potential participants), and

by sending e‐newsletters to staff

members.

Mentorship typically involves a mini‐

mum time commitment of 1 hour

per month for approximately a year.

However, there is no fixed time pe‐

riod for the completion of the pro‐

gram; the mentor or mentee have

the option to end the mentorship

when they determine that the

developmental needs have been

met or in case of any other situation

that makes continuing the mentor‐

ship difficult. They can also be re‐

matched with another mentor or

mentee by request. After the first 6

months of the program, an em‐

ployee satisfaction survey is con‐

ducted to evaluate the process and

their overall experience.

Successes:

Qualitative data including surveys

and independent feedback indicate

that quality matches are made

which result in “productive, effec‐

tive and worthwhile” mentorship.

Telephone based mentorship also

proved to be both helpful and effec‐

tive. The evaluation surveys indicate

that 80% of the participants are ei‐

ther very satisfied or satisfied with

the overall mentorship experience.

Mentees benefit through the devel‐

opment of specific skills, business

acumen, growth in their profes‐

sional network, and problem solving

and decision‐making skills. The men‐

toring program promotes employee

engagement by offering more acces‐

sibility to resources available within

the organization and allowing men‐

tees to build a strong professional

network. It serves as forum to en‐

courage self‐initiated discussions

around areas mentees want to talk

about – thus helping the staff to be

American Cancer Society. (2012). ACS National Mentor Program: overview, process and demographics. Atlanta, GA

Guzman, V. Senior Director‐Diversity and Inclusion,. Interviewed on May 4, 2012.

more self‐directed and empowered.

In the human resource perspective,

the mentoring program helps in

building experiences, and in making

developmental plans, career plans

and also in succession planning. The

success of mentorships can largely

be attributed to the highly commit‐

ted and motivated participants.

Challenges and Lessons Learned:

ACS staff have observed that there

is a change in the participant moti‐

vation and interest levels from initial

inquiry to the time they are

matched. This is partly due to the

manual matching process which is

time consuming and cumbersome –

the interest level of participants

declines when the matches are not

made in a timely fashion. In addi‐

tion, participants sometimes fail to

provide enough details in their pro‐

files making it difficult for the ad‐

ministrators to make an effective

match, although the required

matching criteria are specified. This

proves to be a big barrier to offering

a successful mentoring program.

Staff also observe that some partici‐

pants need more direction and sup‐

port compared to others.

Future Plans:

The current mentoring program in

ACS is, in effect, a pilot program.

The first two years were focused on

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M

ENTORING

ACS plans to offer this program na‐

tionwide for staff members and

some key volunteers, and to grow

the size of the program. Staff hope

to ultimately engage at least 7000‐

8000 people though the nationwide

mentoring program. In order to

build a strong tie between the men‐

toring program and inclusion, they

are also planning to make it more

customized and focused to specific

opportunities identified to grow as a

diverse workforce. ACS plans to con‐

duct more pilot mentoring programs

which include diversity components:

race, ethnicity, career level, gender

and a combination of these. They

plan to develop a nationwide recog‐

nition program to recognize and

reward the contributions of partici‐

pants of the program. ACS continues

to identify best practices that will

allow for the continuous improve‐

ment of their mentoring program. KEY RECOMMENDATIONS

Align with Organizational Goals –

incorporate mentoring programs as

an organizational plan and not just

as a responsibility of individual man‐

agers.

Know the Purpose – view mentoring

as retention strategy and plan your

programs accordingly.

Define and Reiterate the Role of

Management – mentors at the ex‐

ecutive level need to do more by

supporting broader efforts and ini‐

tiatives at their organizations to help

create the conditions that foster the

upward mobility of people of color.

Encourage Sponsorship – it allows

candidates from diverse background

to have an advocate within their

organization.

Reflect Diversity Mission – ensure

the pool of people being considered

for promotions and key assignments

reflect the diversity of the organiza‐

tion.

Conduct Focused Programs – pro‐

mote executive development work‐

shops and seminars that address

diversity issues.

Show Your Support – support in

house minority associations, includ‐

ing networking groups. Help col‐

leagues manage their discomfort

with race and other dimensions of

difference and be alert for issues of

bias disguised as legitimate con‐

cerns.

Conduct Assessments – engage in

feasibility assessment and value‐

added assessment before engaging

in a mentoring program.

Align with Relevant Processes –

coordinate mentoring with onboard‐

ing practices.

Practice Effective Mentoring Proc‐

esses – consider Private 1‐to‐1 ses‐

sions, establishing a Mentoring Advi‐

sory Board, and bringing in outside

experts to conduct relevant work‐

shops, check out online tools devel‐

oped specifically for employee men‐

toring, offering learning content and

connectivity.

Create a Forum – this will encour‐

age open communication between

mentors and mentees, and others

may also benefit from observing the

exchange of information.

Challenge Implicit Rules – challenge

any assumptions surrounding the

procedures of developmental pro‐

grams; evaluate the effectiveness of

each and every procedure as and

when you practice.

2.0,New York .

(14)

O

NBOARDING

“Onboarding is the process of acquiring, accommodating, assimilating, and accelerating new team members.”(Bradt

and Vonnegut, 2009)

Onboarding arguably provides the

single best opportunity to advance

diversity and inclusion initiatives

across your organization, as it is a

period when you can set a path for a

new hire towards retention by

showing your commitment to diver‐

sity and inclusion. By utilizing this

opportunity to impart the organiza‐

tions’ values in the new hire rather

than treating it as a process for com‐

pleting paper work, organizations

have turned onboarding into an

important level for achieving strate‐

gic success. Onboarding contributes

to diversity and inclusion primarily

as a retention strategy. Given that it

is not an easy task to recruit diverse

talent, successful attraction should

be complemented with strategies

like onboarding to retain the talent

pool acquired. Effective onboarding

practices are especially important

for a new hire from a diverse back‐

ground in order for him or her to

feel as a part of the organization.

The list of practices below can help

you ensure that your onboarding

program contributes to your diver‐

sity mission.

ONBOARDING PROGRAM

Align and Acquire – it’s important to

ensure that the key stakeholders

involved in hiring for a position

agree on the position description,

role and level and approve of the

hiring decision; though this may

seem obvious, it’s important to re‐

member that the way a new hire

will be accepted by the stakeholders

is determined even before the new

hire even begins work.

Accommodate – from the outset,

provide new hires with the neces‐

sary tools and resources for them to

have the best opportunity to per‐

form well. Hold leadership responsi‐

ble for the development of new

hires.

Assimilate – assign a mentor/

sponsor/coach for new hires. Train

the mentors on how to assist the

new hires. You may also consider

buddy programs and employee re‐

source groups to help new hires to

build relationships during their early

days, weeks and months with the

organization.

Accelerate – map the first hundred

days of successful candidates. On‐

boarding does not stop with just the

first week, but continues at least for

a year. After identifying individual

needs, provide new hires with train‐

ing and other developmental oppor‐

tunities throughout the year.

BENEFITS

 Employees feel welcomed  Employees understand the cul‐

ture of the organization

 Helps the new hires to fit in into

the organization’s culture

sooner

 Provides a clear path for the

new hires

 Employees gain lot of informa‐

tion about the organization, and

their role and responsibilities  Employees know who to con‐

nect with and where they can

find resources they need  Professional development starts

early on

 Increases retention

 Increases employee satisfaction

Bradt, G. B., & Vonnegut, M. (2009). Onboarding: How to get your new employees up to speed in half the time. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley.

SHRM. (N.D). Creating a Strategic Diversity Management Plan: Onboarding. Retrieved from http://www.shrm.org/hrdisciplines/Diversity/diversity_mgmt_plan/Pages/ orientation.aspx

(15)

O

NBOARDING

CASE STUDY: National Industries for the Blind – Mission Possible Pass‐ port

At National Industries for the Blind,

the onboarding process involves a

series of clearly outlined steps –

starting with the hiring manager

identifying the need for a candidate

up until the new employee‘s first

day of employment. Onboarding is a

part of the hiring process which is

designed to help the new hires to

transition into the organization in

the most efficient manner possible.

During their first week, new hires

complete two half‐day training ses‐

sions where they are provided with

the tools and resources to facilitate

their transition. Following the train‐

ing sessions, NIB offers its own, one‐

of‐a‐kind program called the Mis‐

sion Possible Passport. Mission Pos‐

sible Passport is designed to aid in

assimilation – through the program,

new hires are required to meet the

Leadership Team of NIB, including

heads of departments and divisions,

in order to complete the program

within 8 weeks of starting their new

job. Mission Possible Passport pro‐

gram simulates the “actual passport

stamping process” wherein, when a

foreign national enters a country,

the country issues a stamp on their

passport detailing their visit. Like‐

wise, at NIB, the department heads

attest the new hires’ visit – the pur‐

pose of the visit is pre‐defined like in

the real scenario. The Passport pro‐

gram is designed to help them un‐

derstand their roles and responsi‐

bilities, learn about the activities,

programs and initiatives at NIB, and

to get to know the culture of NIB

better. Once the Passport is com‐

plete, the HR department collects

the passport document from new

hires for review, to ensure that the

program has been successfully com‐

pleted. New hires that complete the

program successfully are recognized

at NIB’s Town Hall meeting. New

employees attend orientation meet‐

ings and tours with the umbrella

organization of which NIB is a part –

The US AbilityOne Commission – to

learn about the purpose and process

of the organization and how they

are linked with each other. Although

the HR team executes the onboard‐

ing process and is held accountable,

other employees are actively in‐

volved in the process and contribute

to the success of it.

Successes

The success of this process is meas‐

ured by the feedback received from

those undergoing the new em‐

ployee activities. NIB considers its

onboarding process a great success

as it enables new employees to see

the big picture of their program and

to make a smooth and quick transi‐

tion into the organization. Mission

Possible Passport onboarding proc‐

ess focuses on involving many em‐

ployees in the process and encour‐

ages feedback for continuous im‐

provement of the system. This ini‐

tiative has proven to be a great way

to bring people from different back‐

grounds together to share their

knowledge to progress as a team –

and it contributes to building an

engaging workplace. In terms of

looking at this onboarding process

through a Diversity & Inclusion lens,

NIB’s program highlights the impor‐

tance of working with people with

disabilities and corrects common

misconceptions. The activities are

cost efficient and are considered by

NIB’s HR leadership to be absolutely

worthwhile.

Challenges and Lessons Learned

Because NIB employs people from

diverse backgrounds, the processes

they develop by necessity embraces

differences in ways that maximize

both a positive culture and produc‐

tivity. The onboarding process is

designed in such a way that it pre‐

pares the new employees to work

among and with people from differ‐

ent backgrounds and abilities by

providing them with information

that they need.

In terms of challenges, early on in

implementing the onboarding proc‐

ess, there was a crossover from the

existing onboarding system with the

new system and was determined to

be repetitive. This was resolved by

combining the two programs into

the Mission Possible Program. By

streamlining the process, they were

able to provide the most useful in‐

formation without any redundancy.

Future Plans

NIB is in the process of expanding

their onboarding process by intro‐

ducing a lunch meeting called the

“Lunch Bunch” similar to the model

15

Bryn, J. Workforce Development Program Director, National Industries for the Blind. Interviewed on April 4, 2012.

Kristen, M. Recruiting and Training Coordinator, National Industries for the Blind. Interviewed on April 4, 2012.

National Industries for the Blind. (N.D.). Mission: Possible Secret Agent Passport The Great Land of NIB. Alexandria,VA.

National Industries for the Blind. (2010). NIB Quality Management System‐ Standard Operating Procedure: Recruiting & Hiring Process. Alexandria,VA:Walling, A.

(16)

O

NBOARDING

similar to the model of brown bag

lunches where the new employees,

HR and the Learning & Development

team get an opportunity to follow‐

up after the formal orientation pro‐

gram. This, they believe would en‐

hance the existing process by ensur‐

ing that the transition is successful

over time.

Like any process, NIB consistently

looks to improve the onboarding

process. Employees from all levels

are encouraged to give their feed‐

back on the existing process and to

offer suggestions for improvement

to make the onboarding process

more efficient.

KEY RECOMMENDATIONS

Benchmark Across Sectors – collect

and share onboarding practices

within and outside the human ser‐

vices and non‐profit sector. Observe

and adapt best onboarding practices

from wherever they occur.

Identify Preconditions – develop an

understanding of the conditions

under which onboarding programs

succeed.

Develop a Template for Your On‐

boarding Plan – a template serves

as a foundation for any planning

process; an onboarding template

will help you organize your work so

that it is easier to track and execute

over time.

Bryn, J. Workforce Development Program Director, National Industries for the Blind. Interviewed on April 4, 2012.

Kristen, M. Recruiting and Training Coordinator, National Industries for the Blind. Interviewed on April 4, 2012.

National Industries for the Blind. (N.D.). Mission: Possible Secret Agent Passport The Great Land of NIB. Alexandria,VA.

(17)

S

UCCESSION

P

LANNING

"Succession planning is a comprehensive, ongoing strategic process that provides for forecasting an organization's

senior leadership needs; identifying and developing candidates who have the potential to be future leaders; and

selecting individuals from among a diverse pool of qualified candidates to meet executive resource needs." (Gore, 2007)

Management writer, Wilf Altman,

got right to the heart of the impor‐

tance of this practice when he said ,

” Management succession planning

means that there’s a new genera‐

tion of key talent and precise plans

for continuity for when your big

guns retire or your young go‐getters

get head‐hunted.”

Succession planning has traditionally

been seen as synonymous with

building a talent pipeline. In recent

years, with the increasing value

placed on diversity and inclusion,

practitioners have inferred a vital

link between succession planning

and building a diverse workforce,

although as yet this has not been

demonstrated with empirical

evidence. A well‐formulated

succession planning which

incorporates the plan to build a

diverse workforce provides strategic

focus for the development of a

diverse workforce. Diverse

succession plan provides flexibility

through its diverse talent pipeline to

formulate, implement and operate

new strategies which helps an

organization grow in the diverse

market.

By “planning” the succession of

diverse talent, an organization has

the opportunity to ensure that its

leadership will have the right talent

in the right key roles, while at the

same time, becoming more diverse.

Below are recommendations for

how you can build, develop and

advance a diverse workforce

through your organization’s succes‐

sion plan.

SUCCESSION PLAN

Make Long Term Plans – ensure

that your efforts to align diversity

with succession planning is not a

short‐term initiative but an ongoing

process.

Integrate Strategies – it is important

to align diversity strategies with the

overall organizational strategies,

specifically human resource strate‐

gies surrounding staffing, replace‐

ment planning, and workforce de‐

velopment. Integrating these strate‐

gies helps identify critical positions

and formulate developmental plans

for those positions.

Involve Top Management – involve

management in the integration of

diversity with succession planning.

Empower Employees – give

employees authority to contribute

to the diversity mission by assigning

them specific responsibilities, and

hold them accountable for diverse

succession goals.

Develop High Potentials – frame

programs to focus on developing

high potentials, rather than limiting

yourself to broad efforts at develop‐

ing a diverse workforce. Be Clear about Your Talent Ap‐

proach – succession planning that

uses a diversity lens does not focus

solely on a position‐specific ap‐

proach (replacing key executives).

Rather, successful efforts seek out

high potentials from throughout

your talent pool in order to develop

them as potential successors for

multiple more senior positions.

Enhance Talent Pipeline – consider

targeted recruitment or outreach

programs to colleges and universi‐

ties, with special emphasis on

HBCUs, historically Hispanic institu‐

tions and other programs that edu‐

cate students from underrepre‐

sented groups.

Evaluate Talent Management Prac‐

tices – ensure that your talent man‐

agement practices promote diver‐

sity and inclusion.

Emphasize Promoting from Within

– give internally available diverse

high potentials the first

Altman, W. W. (2009). Who's next in line? [management succession planning]. Engineering & Technology (17509637), 4(15), 72‐75. doi:10.1049/et.2009.1516

Greer, C. R., & Virick, M. (2008). Diverse succession planning: Lessons from the industry leaders. Human Resource Management, 47(2), 351‐367.

Gore, A. “ Best practices in achieving diversity in the workplace” U.S. Department of Commerce and Vice President Al Gore’s National Partnership for Reinventing Government

Benchmarking Study. 2007.

17